@iztok_franko In theory, yes. A legit rotation player. Reality: he was not going to be one tho.
Ayton was not engaged for how many games out of 82? And he was the starting 5 playing huge minutes...
Imagine his mindset being a backup 5 playing 15 minutes...
LeBron James, Laker Champion
LeBron James’ Lakers tenure has ended at 8 seasons, his longest stretch with a single team in his career. That meant eight offseasons and eight trade deadlines — sixteen transaction cycles of news, excitement, chaos, and exhaustion. It feels almost impossible to take a breath and step back, but I’ll try.
The one thing that I think has absolutely been forgotten is the state of the Lakers when LeBron James arrived. Lakers ownership had just finished firing the owner’s brother, hiring a first time President of Basketball, a first time GM, had a roster full of young, but unproven talent - and most importantly, they were absolutely rudderless. Let’s be very clear here: the Lakers were on their way to being a decade-long mediocrity. LeBron James didn’t go the Kawhi route and demand a trade for a co-star, he just signed with the team, and for that I will be forever grateful. He WAS the franchise savior, there is no other way to view that.
Now, the Klutch angle. The Lakers may bristle at being “pushed around” to do things like trade for Anthony Davis. But look at what the Lakers were doing that same offseason. They insulted and low-balled Ty Lue. Then, on the day they introduced Frank Vogel — the guy who had originally agreed to be the lead assistant — Magic Johnson went on television and trashed everything about the organization. So yeah, you got pushed around by Klutch to trade for AD, and thank god for that.
LeBron would go on to carry the franchise to a championship, the same year that he carried them through the untimely death of Kobe Bryant, followed by a global pandemic. I was asked on a podcast appearance I did the day LeBron signed about my expectations as far as championships, my answer: Set the over/under at 0.5. LeBron hit the over. Mission accomplished, end of story.
Were there lows that followed? Was the Russell Westbrook trade the worst trade of all time? I think so, and I think it’s stupid to pretend that LeBron didn’t push for that either - of course he did, it was a mistake, and it ended the title window for the team. But LeBron didn’t make the trade himself, I’d be much more amenable to the fact that LeBron James and Klutch were some overbearing pains in the asses if the organization actually had their own basketball principles and philosophies to fall back on. To date, I have seen no evidence of that.
I find myself defending LeBron today and his legacy as a Laker, but at the same time I don’t blame anybody for the relationship ending today. This was a relationship that had its ups and downs and both sides find themselves at a crossroads where saying goodbye is the most logical outcome. The Lakers have to build their franchise around their next centerpiece in Luka Doncic, and while LeBron James gave Luka the space to be himself, LeBron’s stature is too large for this team to not take it’s cues from him - it is time for the franchise to become Luka’s, fully and unmistakably. For LeBron, whether it’s commuting to San Francisco, or ending his story book career where it started, I can appreciate how those options just feel better to him today.
LeBron’s Lakers tenure was messy, political, dramatic, and eventually exhausting. But that cannot be separated from what came before him: a franchise with no direction, no credibility, and no obvious path back to relevance. He chose the Lakers without demanding a co-star first. He made them matter again. He helped deliver Anthony Davis. He won a championship. Everything after that can be debated, but the central fact cannot: LeBron James came to Los Angeles and did the job.
LeBron James, Laker Champion
Ho per caso beccato #FridayNightLights su Prime: primo rewatch dopo 15 anni ed estate SVOLTATA.
"Here's to God, and football and good friends living large in Texas. Texas forever"
(Trailer che - come la serie - è nel mio cuore)
https://t.co/OqA5jGcewK
Non siamo uguali, cosa abbiamo visto noi:
"Look at this run. What a run. Marshawn Lynch. Still on his feet. Wohoho. He has blockers now. He's dancing his way. For the Touchdowwwn. GET OFF ME! HE SAYS TO TRACY PORTER"
Sempre e per sempre Beastquake.
Japan fans were joined by New York Giants quarterback Jameis Winston in their traditional post-match stadium cleanup following Japan’s World Cup match against the Netherlands in Dallas.
I New York Knicks sono +20.2 punti per 100 possessi migliori quando Towns è in campo rispetto a quando è fuori. Il tutto difendendo male perché Wembanyama segna tanti punti, via gente che ha vinto molti più premi Pulitzer del Comune di Civitella in Val di Chiana di me 👍
This map shows where the 48 teams partaking in the FIFA World Cup 2026 will be based. 🇲🇽🇺🇸🇨🇦
Pretty sure that Argentina, England, and the Netherlands have an unfair advantage by being based in Kansas: heaps fewer distractions than elsewhere 😉
@sciuramarta ma non sapevo di questo profilooo, per caso mi sono apparsi molteplici messaggi di auguri 😭😭 Auguroni Marta, a te e al sig. Paraculopignolo/pacifico ❤️
The 2026 NBA Draft Lottery will be held Sunday in Chicago.
ABC will reveal the results live at 3 PM ET.
Below is the list of team representatives who will be on stage ⬇️